By Eric Stock

BLOOMINGTON – U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Taylorville) said he didn’t see as much progress in Cuba as he had hoped in the decade since he had been there.

Davis joined U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-East Moline) on a trade mission to the island nation. Davis told WJBC’s Scott Laughlin, Cuba punishes tourists from the United States and other countries by using a different, pricier, currency in an attempt to keep the U.S. out.

PODCAST: Listen to Scott’s interview with Davis on WJBC. 

“I think they are more scared of the embargo being lifted than America is because that’s what they have blamed for every social ill in Cuba for the last 50-plus years,” Davis said. “If (the embargo) goes away then maybe the Cuban people are going to start to say ‘Maybe the fact we don’t have enough food, maybe the fact that we don’t have enough opportunity, maybe it’s not America’s fault, maybe it’s our leaders fault.”

Davis recalled images that reminded him of a third-world country but he sees potential for Illinois to be a strong ag exporter in Cuba.

Bustos is calling for the Illinois Cuba Working Group to set up an office in Havana.

Afghanistan

Davis said believes President Barack Obama’s decision to keep 9,800 troops in Afghanistan through next year shows he has learned the lesson of a premature pullout from Iraq.

“I think the president realizes he made a mistake when he drew down troops too much, too fast in Iraq,” Davis said. “What it did was leave a vacuum and we’ve seen Al-Qaeda and, in some cases ISIS, have tried to fill that void.”

Davis said keeping a U.S. presence in Afghanistan in an advisory role will help Afghan security forces. Davis said the troop extension could be a sign the president is finally listening to his military advisers.

Eric Stock can be reached at [email protected].